Guard’s beating of Missouri inmate left him injured, traumatized years later, he says
A longtime Missouri prison guard has been sentenced to seven years in prison after authorities said he assaulted an inmate and was found with child porn.
In his signed plea agreement, former corrections Sgt. Carl Hart said on Oct. 28, 2021, the inmate complained about a poster in his cell being destroyed during a search. The inmate also asked for his poster be replaced.
“(Hart) ignored the victim’s request, informed him that he’s just an inmate, and sent him out of the office,” according to the plea agreement filed in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Hart then ordered a lockdown, and two corrections officers pepper-sprayed the inmate when he did not head to his cell right away, authorities said in an Oct. 4 news release.
As the inmate showered off the spray, authorities said Hart struck him.
“After the inmate backed out of the shower, laid on the ground and put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, (Hart) continued to strike the victim and wrenched the victim’s wrists while (sitting) on the victim’s back,” according to court records. The inmate’s injuries included facial cuts and swelling, a black eye, left rib pain and arm numbness.
Hart’s defense attorney declined to provide a comment to McClatchy News.
In a July 2023 letter, the victim said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder days after the attack.
“God (compels) me to forgive you for the physical scars you gave me on multiple places of my head, face and hand that I have to look at everyday for the rest of my life, for the permanent blurry vision in my eye, for the separated and infected ribs I had for 10 months, for the mental trauma I still suffer from — from being beaten by those who were supposed to protect me,” he continued.
Hart had worked for the Department of Corrections for 10 years prior to the attack, according to the release.
The Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Oct. 5.
Child porn investigation
In April 2022, a separate investigation into Hart began following a cybertip regarding suspected child pornography in his Dropbox account, authorities said.
Investigators said they found multiple photos and at least one video of child porn in his Dropbox and a collage of sexual images on his phones.
“Knowing that some sick person is looking at me on a computer everyday in a way that no one should look at a kid makes me feel violated, it gives me the jeebers, and it makes me want to throw up,” one of the victims said, according to the release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug said Hart “did not protect the children being sexually abused in the photos and videos he collected and viewed” and he “did not protect a prisoner he was charged with keeping safe,” according to the release.
The 37-year-old man from Farmington previously pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of possession of child pornography.
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